pet insurance (yay or nay)

[Nadia]

I am sure this topic has been brought up many times before but I figured I would bring it up again...LOL

I was thinking that it may be a good idea to get pet insurance.  My husband on the other hand thinks its a waste! I just keep thinking that anything could happen and be a huge financial burden.  I figured that if we have insurance  it can help monetarily in case of an emergency.

I try and say that we have insurance for our kids and ourselves but he says "he's a dog"!

what are your thoughts, suggestions, opinions???

 

thanks a bunch :)

[Diana Erhart]

Absolutely, positively, without a doubt, and any other ways to say YES! get the pet insurance.  A single incident can cost thousands of dollars.  You will probably get many responses from people who have had to pay lots of money to the vet for an accident or illness.  I have only used mine a couple of times for small things but I have peace of mind that if something bad does happen I will not be out a ton of money because there is no way that I would refuse treatment to my little guy.  And get the insurance soon because once an illness occurs it is then a pre-existing condition and won't be covered.  When you get responses with all the "horror" stories here, make your husband read them.  I think that will change his mind.

[Nadia]

thanks Diana....totally AGREE!!!!!

I thought for a moment I was being unreasonable.....LOL

[Tammy and Violet]

How do I find out how much pet insurance is ? Sorry to sound so dumb ... but...

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are all kinds of policies at all kinds of prices. You can get a quote at no obligation on most of the insurance websites. Here's one for Pet Plan: http://www.gopetplan.com/

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

We've had Embrace Insurance for years. Here's a link to an online quote from them:

http://www.embracepetinsurance.com/

 

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Yay, yay,  and yay! Absolutely and buy it today! :)  We have insurance on Tara and our cat Amber. Amber ended up in the ER over Labor Day weekend and the bill for fluids/xrays/lab was over $1100.00.  Vet costs are increasing yearly and if, like me, you never want money to be the deciding factor of whether or not your dear pet lives or dies than please get insurance.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

One surgery to remove an object (sock, rock, whatever) from a dog's gut is about $3000. 

An endoscopy to diagnose GI disease is $3000. 

Hip surgery or knee is $3000-5000, and double if both hips or knees are affected.

An MRI to diagnose a spine problem is $1800. 

A common drug used to treat various auto-immune diseases common in dogs costs $180/mo. or $2160 per year

More than one doodle on this website has been affected by all of  these things and many more, including mine, whose health related expenses in the past 18 months are well over five figures.

If your dog was one of them, could you pay these costs up front without insurance? 

If not, what would you do? 

IMO, health insurance is absolutely essential. 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

A resounding, YES, to pet insurance! We covered Lucy as soon as we could when she was a puppy and just added Oscar when he came along We've definitely gotten our money's worth with both of them with unexpected illnesses and accidents. If your husband thinks its not worth getting, ask him what he would do if suddenly he were faced with a vet bill in the $1000's. If he/you has a savings account set aside just for such emergencies, then great, that's one way to go about it. But if it would be a hardship and you'd be faced with possibly having to turn your beloved puppy over to a dog shelter in order to have it's medical needs taken care of (which I've actually witnessed with a family that couldn't afford the costly surgery their puppy required at the pet emergency hospital when we were there with Oscar for his intestinal obstruction surgery some months ago), then he needs to reconsider. Pet insurance is worth every dime, and gives you peace of mind. I should also mention that even with pet medical insurance there will be a monetary % that you'll be responsible for up front, based on the hospital/vet's estimate. Depending on the severity of the illness/accident, that alone can be difficult to deal with.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Definitely yes for me.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

YAY, YAY AND YAY!   In the last 15 months we have been reimbursed by Pet Plan (gopetplan.com) over $1500 for our Doodle Lucy for a CCL tear and then another $2000+ for our Doodle Sophie for Chemo treatments for Lymphoma. Unfortunately we lost Sophie in March and because (and only because) we had Pet Insurance that reimbursed us for what we had spent on medical bills for her were we able to then get our little AnnaBelle.  Had we been out those medical expenses we would not have been able to do so.  I would ask your husband what he would do if the Vet told him that your puppy has eaten a sock and it is blocking his intestines ... It is $3000 surgery or your puppy is going to die?  Depending on where you live this is a $1500 - $3000 Vet Bill.  If you do a search here on Doodle Kisses for Pet Insurance you will find all sorts of past discussions about which insurance people prefer and some of the costs.  The costs for most vary depending on where you live.  You can get the quotes right on line.  You can sort of pick what fits for you.  You can adjust the deductible to get a lower premium.  You really only need it for accidents and major illnesses and most of us knew going in that we were going to pay for the regular things.  It is also very important that you get the insurance before anything gets put in the medical bills that could be considered pre-existing because those will be excluded when you sign up.

[Camilla and Darwin]

YES do it! No debate, just do it!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Perhaps show your husband this post about Honey...the result of it was that Honey was surrendered to DRC and we all raised the money so she could have her surgery, some angels along the way loved her, cared for her and finally adopted her. When you have finished digesting this story and if you decide not to buy pet insurance you will be doing it with eyes wide open. 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/honey-needs-help